Gudi PadwaGudi Padwa is a spring festival marking the start of the traditional new year, primarily for Marathi and Konkani Hindus but for other Hindus as well. It is celebrated in and around Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu at the start of Chaitra, the first month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar. Padava or paadvo comes from the Sanskrit word pratipada, which is the first day of a lunar fortnight.
KhambhatKhambhat (kɑːmˈbɑːt, khəmbɦɑt), also known as Cambay, is a city and the surrounding urban agglomeration in Anand district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was once an important trading center, but its harbour gradually silted up, and the maritime trade moved to Surat. Khambat lies on an alluvial plain at the north end of the Gulf of Khambhat, noted for the extreme rise and fall of its tides, which can vary as much as thirty feet in the vicinity of Khambat.
Patil (title)The Patil (Hindi: पाटिल) (meaning "village headman") is an Indian last name and a title or surname. The female variant of the title is Patlin or Patlinbai, and is also used to describe the wife of a Patil. In ancient times, a Patil was the head of a village working under a Deshmukh who was head of the district. Under Deccan sultanates, and the Maratha Empire, the Patil was the village headman and the most important Vatandar of the village. His main duties were to be the collector of revenue, as well as being the head of police and justice.
Deshastha BrahminDeshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins are also concentrated in the states of Telangana , Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Historian Pran Nath Chopra and journalist Pritish Nandy say, "Most of the well-known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were Deshastha Brahmins". The mother tongue of Deshastha Brahmins is either Marathi, Kannada or Telugu.
BanyanA banyan, also spelled "banian" (ˈbænjən ), is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as an epiphyte, i.e. a plant that grows on another plant, when its seed germinates in a crack or crevice of a host tree or edifice.
Martial raceMartial race was a designation which was created by army officials in British India after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which they classified each caste as belonging to one of two categories, the 'martial' caste and the 'non-martial' caste. The ostensible reason for this system of classification was the belief that a 'martial race' was typically brave and well-built for fighting, while the 'non-martial races' were those races which the British considered unfit for battle because of their sedentary lifestyles.
MaharMahar is an Indian caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism in the middle of the 20th century. As of 2017 the Mahar caste was designated as a Scheduled Caste in 16 Indian states. The Mahars are considered original inhabitants of Maharashtra. The community is also known as "Kathiwale" (Men with sticks), Bumiputera (Sons of the Soil), and Mirasi (Landlords). The "Kathiwale" name represents their former duty as Administrators.
Chitpavan BrahminsThe 'Chitpavan Brahmin or the Konkanastha Brahmin' is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community came into prominence during the 18th century when the heirs of Peshwa from the Bhat family of Balaji Vishwanath became the de facto rulers of the Maratha empire. Until the 18th century, the Chitpavans were held in low esteem by the Deshastha, the older established Brahmin community of Karnataka-Maharashtra region.
East IndiansThe East Indians, also called East Indian Catholics or Bombay East Indians, are an ethno-religious Indian Christian community native to the Seven Islands of Bombay and the neighbouring Mumbai Metropolitan Area of the Konkan division. A Dominican missionary by the name Jordanus Catalani, who was either Catalan or Occitan (southern French), began evangelising the locals in Sopara, Thana & Kalyan-Dombivli towns of north Konkan in around 1323 AD. Sopara was an ancient port and an international trading center.
DeshmukhDeshmukh (IAST:Dēśamukh), is a historical title conferred to the rulers of a . It is used as a surname in certain regions of India, specifically in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh whose family received it as a title. In Sanskrit, Deśa means land, country and mukha means head or chief; thus, deshmukh means "the head" of a district. Deshmukh was a historical title given to a person who was granted a territory of land, in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
